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Salas’ Student Fairness Act Advances

Legislation authored by Assemblymember Rudy Salas cleared the Assembly Higher Education Committee today with bipartisan support; there will be no raises for university executives as student tuition climbs.


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Assembly Bill 1317, the Student Fairness Act, will prohibit Universities from increasing Executive pay – for a specified period of time – after the Trustees / Board of Regents increase student tuition according to a California State Assembly press release.

Private funds could still be used to provide additional compensation for administrators.

“It does not make sense for university executives to receive huge pay raises at the expense of students and taxpayers when the institutions claim they do not have the resources to fulfill student needs,” said Assemblymember Salas.

“The Student Fairness Act will help ensure our institutions of higher learning are utilizing limited public funds wisely and in the best interest of the students they serve.”

Over the past ten years, the California State University (CSU) system has approved two pay raises for university executives, by an average of 11 percent in 2007 and 3 percent in 2014, while student tuition has increased by over 130 percent.

On average, CSU executives make over $300,000 per year, not including housing and other benefits.

Similarly, in 2014 the Regents of the University of California (UC) increased pay for top executives by as much as 20 percent while proposing annual tuition increases of 28 percent over a five year period, purportedly due to lack of additional funding in the state budget.

Meanwhile, students at UC campuses, who are presently paying $11,220 just in tuition, could see that number rise to as much as $15,564 by 2019 said California State Assembly officials.

“Accessibility and affordability of higher education should remain a priority of the University of California and the California State University,” said Assemblymember Salas. “However over the past 10 years, executives have received two pay raises while student tuition has increased over 130 percent. This is unfair to students.”

At California State Universities, students are seeing increases in so-called “student fees” amounting to annual costs of nearly $800 per student.

Since 2011, there has continued to be a troubling pattern where raises for executive pay often coincide with decisions to increase the cost of tuition at state universities.

“Many UC and CSU students come from families that are still struggling to recover from the recession,” said Domonique Jones, UC Merced student and student senator. “We want to see our educational investments used to improve our schools and career prospects, not fund pay raises.”

According to the Institute for College Access and Success’ Project on Student Debt, more than half of all Californians graduating from four year institutions in 2013 were indebted as a result of their student loan obligations with the average student holding more than $20,000.

For more information on the latest news from the Assembly Democratic Caucus click here http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/ or call Don Andrews at the Speaker’s Office of Member Services at (916) 319-3800.

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Salas’ Student Fairness Act Advances

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